IEEE-1394 (1394) defines a serial interface bus that is high speed and has a number of features that make it a very capable bus. The 1394 bus is sometimes referred to Firewire™ (trademark of Apple) and iLink™ (trademark of Sony). Unfortunately, for simple applications such as a sensor, the 1394 bus may be overkill. Even for these simple applications, the 1394 bus still requires every device be at least transaction capable, as defined by IEEE-1394. As a result, the 1394 bus protocol makes it too complicated and expensive to attach these simple devices to a 1394 bus.
Thus there exists a need for an extension to the 1394 serial interface bus that allows simple devices to connect to the 1394 bus but not be required to perform all the functions of a 1394 device, thereby reducing the complexity and cost of implementing these simple devices on a 1394 bus.